Eugene

I read a book by a guy that was Greg Lemond's mechanic (I forget the name) and he also recommended diesel. He rekons that diesel has an oily residue which remains behind after the diesel has evaporated. He never used any other form of lubricant. I won't trust that though, I'll still use a proper lube.

I?m not a <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Raleigh fan for 2 reasons. 1) Everybody rides one and 2) I think their colour schemes are pretty unimaginative (except the ill fated 2007 Team). However, my logic is simple; if a Raleigh is good enough to give SA?s top riders countless wins (Langer, Impey, Evans, White etc, etc) then a Raleigh is good enough for the rest of us. I?m willing to say that 90% of us who buy these fancy bikes do so because we want to, not because we get any benefit from them. Most people who buy Cervelos, Colnagos etc wouldn?t even be able to tell the difference between them and a Raleigh if they rode blind folded (me included). So, to label a Raleigh a bike for the masses is probably correct, but at least those masses havn?t spent thousands on perceived quality that they are unable to use. Kinda like those people that insist on paying R500 000 plus for an Audi Q7 or BMW X5 and never take the thing off road. Don?t get me wrong, I also ride a bike that is too expensive for my abilities, but I bought it because I wanted it, not because I thought it would improve my times.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Looks like one of those old folding bikes you used to get.

I've been thru this as well. This is what I found. Fuji C4 R6000, Fuji C7 R8000, Dart R6000 and Prorace R6000 at Solomons. I was quoted R7 200 for a Silverback at Wayne Pheifer Cycles (in PE) and I heard that Action Cycles (in PE) also had a Silverback for R5500, although I saw them marked at R7 900. Bicycling list one of the Specialized Tarmacs at R11 000 in their price guide.

The Synapse comes in both aluminium and carbon. It differs from the others in that the geometry is aimed at comfort riding rather than racing.

Just out of interest. They are not even in the shops here in PE yet.

If the bike has a steel fork, then it must be pretty old. I would say that it is only worth about R1 500.00

R13 000.00 is the suggested retail price of the bike. It's one of the cheapest full carbon bikes available. The 2008 range has just been launched, perhaps you could pick up a 2007 version elsewhere at a good price.

Scott S20, it has a carbon seatstay (only the 2008 Raleigh will have one), it looks much nicer and most importantly, you will have a bit of individuality. Raleighs are like Toyotas, everybody has one. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with the Raleigh, there are just too many people riding them and I like something different.

Awesome looking bike. I have to ask this. Is the frame the same one as used on the 2007 Raleighs.

Back in Zim, we had a guy on one of these with a basket on the front and back. He used to visit us weekly to sell fruit and veg.

Probably cheaper for you to have done the importing yourself. Depending on where he bought these items, he would've paid VAT (17.5% in UK). If he posts them he cannot get a refund on this VAT. You will also have to pay SA VAT on the import of the goods, meaning you would've paid VAT twice. If you had imported them yourself, you could've bought them VAT free in that country, meaning you only pay the SA VAT. The last I heard that there is no import duties on sporting goods. Your friend must therefore ensure that they are marked as such.

Thanks for the informative comments. Yes, I have been for xrays, was examined by an orthapaedic surgeon and an attorney has already put the wheels in motion for an MVA claim. Just one thing, every body rips off Arnie with his "please wear your helmut" comment every Tues night. After this accident, I've realised that he can't say it enough times. My helmut is in half (that could've been my head), but something I've learned is that all Bell helmuts come with an accident replacement warranty. If the helmut is damaged, you can return it to a shop and get a new one at only 30% of the selling price. That is good service.

Thanks alot, I feel alot better. From what you guys have said, it seems as if I will be paid out. Now.......if I can just get this pelvis to heal, I can start riding again.

Last week a guy in a bakkie tail ended me whilst I was training. He admitted liability and as he was driving a work vehicle, his employer has offered to put any claims through on his insurance. My bike was structurally unharmed, except for a destroyed STi, a few minor scratches and 3 dents on the chain stay (an aluminium frame). My lbs has told me that, their experience has shown that insurance companies will not replace the scratched parts or a dented frame as the bike is still structurally sound. My opinion is that, I went for a ride on Thursday with a completely unscratched and undented bike and the insurance company must pay for those parts to be replaced so that my bike is once again completely unscratched and undented. I'm not asking for anything more than what I had before. I look after my stuff really well and I'm sure that any dents on the frame will severely compromise any resale value. The total cost of replacing the frame and scratched parts amounts to R12000. The assessor will undoubtedly want to view the bike. Has anybody on the forum had any similar experiences and has their insurance paid/not paid for any "cosmetic" damage?

Medium

I have a RC6000 frame (the white 2005 version)which I want to build up for sale. I have a choice of building it up with Campag Xenon or Veloce (10sp) and Khamsyn wheels. In order to make my money back, I will have to sell the bike at these prices: Xenon R3 500.00 Veloce R4 500.00 The groupsets and wheels will be brand new and the frame, although 3 years old, is in excellent condition. Will I be able to sell at these prices and which would sell better, the cheaper Xenon or better Veloce?

Ja........... Just out of interest, who do you have lined up for this team? Are there any local (PE) riders that you have earmarked for the team?

OcTall...........you are from PE aren't you? Why not approach SA's largest bike distributor? A PE company sponsoring a PE team.

I race radio control cars (or did a few years back), busy getting my cars ready to start again though. I can't wait.

I am............what do you want to know?

Check out www.epcycling.co.za There is a list of all affiliated clubs in the province. I don't remember seeing one in that area. There is one or two clubs in East London which is about 45mins drive from King Williams Town. There are also a few national clubs such as Cyclelab and Club100 that you can join, but I doubt that you will get any support in those areas you are moving to. Welcome to SA anyway. Much better cycling than UK.

Huh! Why would they be out of the tour?

I saw the RC6000 and RC3000 on the net today. Not as nice as the RC7000 and RC Team. Just one question, are the RC3000 and RC6000 carbon? Looking at the curves by the head set and bottom tube, they look carbon. In fact the frames look very similar to the Schwinn Peleton frames.